eds

It's not news to health professionals, but it still bears repeating--basic precautions like hand washing can do much to prevent hospital-acquired infections. The latest round of studies documenting this comes from the American Journal of Medical Quality, which published three studies underlining this conclusion. The studies concluded that in addition to frequent hand washing, health professionals should take care to wear gowns and other infection-proof clothing when conducting …

Wonderful topic, and forgive me for tossing in my two cents: Isn't the basis for the plight of the ER primarily linked to the catastrophic and wholesale abandonment of primary care in this country? While some of the lengths undertaken to fix the symptoms of overcrowding, some nearly heroic, I think the fundamental issue is associated with access, coverage, and availability and utilization of primary care. As you mention in the case of the HCA hospitals in Florida, redirecting patients to clinics can save costs. But this kind of shift also comes much too late. Providing a global (national) accessibility to primary care could keep the 85 percent of the patients out of the ER who do not have genuine need of emergency services. It would also allow the most costly care in the system to be used appropriately and would shore up the primary care docs, who are soon to be found only in museums.

Defense, intelligence and homeland security remain key focuses for federal information technology contractors, but many are emphasizing healthcare given the recent increases in government spending on electronic medical records and biodefense projects. The Washington Post reports that EDS has revised the focus of its business development unit to emphasize government business. Northrup Grumann, which is number two on the list of top federal contractors, acquired Integic last year in …

Blue Shield of California will launch an upgrade of its EDS-developed claims and enrollment system at some point in the near future, says CIO Elinor MacKinnon in an interview with The San Francisco Business Times. The company did not reveal details of its plan, but sources close to the company put the cost of any deal at the $100 million-plus level. The newspaper notes that BS of California has been advertising heavily on Dice.com for technical support staff. Article

A report released earlier this week by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) examines trends in hospital emergency departments. Emergency department visits are up 26 percent over the last year. Researchers believe a major factor in the increase is the trend among patients to rely on emergency departments for primary care, even though the venue is an inefficient and expensive way of providing primary care. The group also notes the increasing role EDs are playing in attracting …

EDS said it has been awarded a $253 million contract to develop and manage a new system for Florida's Medicaid program. The news follows the announcement earlier in the week that the company had signed a similar deal with Oklahoma. The news shows that EDS is continuing to maintain its core healthcare business, processing claims and providing technology support for state Medicaid programs. It also has significant business as a technology sub-contractor for several Blues and regional Medicare processors.

- see this story from the Associated Press

One of the "Big 3" PBMs, Express Scripts, said that it has extended its alliance with IT outsourcing firm EDS through 2010. The IT services giant, which has been trying to extend its healthcare business away from dependence on a few major Blues plans in recent years, provides Express Scripts with various IT services,
including mainframe and midrange hosting, communications networking and Web
hosting. Release

Electronic Data Systems has signed a $73 million deal with the state of Oregon to develop and implement a new Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS). The seven-year contract includes three one-year options. Over the past year, EDS has won similar contracts from Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Wisconsin. The Oregon system will be a modified version of the InterChange Medicaid system, which EDS has already deployed in Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Kansas. The Oregon Medicaid program …

A number of major players are weighing bids for the National Health Information Network (NHIN) contract announced last week by the Department of Health and Human Services. Perot Systems is considering a bid for the NHIN job, while Computer Sciences Corp. says it is interested but not as a prime contractor. One estimate concludes the combined value of the contracts to build the prototype is at least $60 million. EDS and Northrup Grumman are also weighing bids. HHS is also seeking …